Assignment 7

Today's student--a New Way of Thinking

It is quite easy to get anecdotal in this course--specially, as we are all educators working with students/children who periodically supersede us in the technological field. As we sweat through the most basic elements in modern technology, they—the students—breeze through like an advanced breed of animals that seem entirely foreign to us.
We are indeed in a different world. Thus, we do see students struggle in the silence of the class; their minds wonder everywhere. And the only thing that brings them back to “learning” is noise. As paradoxical as that statement sounds, it is indeed a general modern rule—the more quite the room is the tougher it is to learn. It is analogous to growing up twenty years ago and then having to deal with a classroom full of noisy kids. Nothing would have been learned, and here lies the conundrum: how is a class made interesting and thus a positive learning environment, when there is such a drastic change in the culture of learning from one generation to the other? Kids want to bring their IPods, cell phones, and then play with them as we teach class. We tend to find this as an attack on us. But in reality, we should be more progressive. After all, when they go home and study, they do so precisely in the manner they feel most comfortable—i.e. with their head phones, IPods, IM, etc… So, who are we to tell them how to best incorporate new information? The readings hint on this idea positively. Perhaps, it’s time for us to change.
My advice for educators is to relax and allow the students some level of autonomy in their learning. Experience has shown me that students want to learn, and we just have to allow them to do so.

Assignment 6

Define database management software and describe how you might use it to help you in teaching responsibilities. How might you construct a learning assignment for your students that used this productivity tool?

Educational databases are powerful tools for students, making academic research exceedingly approachable by even the novice. In fact, until recently the technology only applied to the business world—where a concise methodology for retrieving information was indispensible. The world of academic research was simply too esoteric and erudite for the common high school student to even dare approach. Even undergraduate students found the process daunting and mainly did research as preparation for graduate work—where the bulk of their time would eventually be taken up in learning the process of discovering research and peer reviews by digging through the dark sea of scholarly jargon.

Around the late 90’s, the technology started to pair up with the need to properly categorize and find information, a process that was previously almost an art of luck. The first academic journal that held a credible academic reputation and served the needs of more savvy graduate students and researchers was JSTOR. This database began cataloging academic articles dealing with literary theory that covered a wide range of ideas and time, as back as 200 years and into the present. So, it became possible to even compare how society varied its interpretation through time of major literature or even the canon with a simple query.

In my literature class, we’re currently covering The Crucible. One of my aim has been to familiarize them with the formal writing process—i.e. thesis statement, outline, drafting… Of course a major component of this process involves research. With the advent and generally easy access to reputable research through electronic databases (JSTOR), it has proven a successful experience—one where students feel accomplished and where their learning increases by gaining a deeper knowledge of the material discussed in class.

Assignment 3

What is the difference between formative and summative feedback?

I think of the formative assessment as an ongoing process of improvement, whereby the teacher is allowed immediate improvement opportunities—i.e. feedback. Usually, this means addressing a student’s learning process in reference to a particular situation as it is happening. The main purpose, of course, remains to improve learning strategies –particularly as it applies to an evaluative process detached of student grading. Curriculum alignment or tools that shape professional direction often take place in this process and is usually connected to multiple learning objectives, whereby instructional quality is critically attached to the goals at hand. That is to say, objectives, the course main goals, and the impact realized by the whole are, again, immediately stressed.

On the other hand, summative assessment focuses on a retrospective evaluation of an educator’s teaching strategy. Examples involve the teaching, comprehension, and retaining of knowledge of accreditation tests. To reiterate or clarify the idea, the concept can be summed up by saying the summative program tests what was learned and how it was taught.

Assignment 4

Why is it advantageous for educators to share resources and programs on a network? What concerns are associated with program sharing?

The benefits of networking are obvious to anyone in education or any other field. In fact, it is quite difficult to comprehend a world where share folders, common printers, and even interconnected IP phones were not the norm. And yet, it still remains an elusive reality in a lot of school districts where clear advantages go beyond the understanding of some of those who are in control.
The expense associated with an organization without a good networking capability is just ridiculous and almost not worth mentioning. But often and as I hinted before, some administrators remain stubborn to the most basic necessities in technological advances; hence, a sufficient explanation is always useful to have at hand. At the same time, it is also worth recalling that dangers do exist in networking. Therefore, a good system is necessarily followed by a solid security and maintenance support, as attacks, failures, and accidents are too predictable and almost always sure to occur. It is not uncommon to hear of a whole system crippled by some twelve year old boy.
Coupled with a solid computer support system, computer networks are bound to evolve and continue to be part of education. In fact, the technology is growing so fast that it will ultimately go beyond the stationary and, as it is already seen in many places, be replaced by wireless systems.